Malai Malai is a 2009 Tamil languageaction comedy film written and directed by A. Venkatesh starring Arun Vijay, Prabhu and Vedhika in the lead roles. The film released on 31 July 2009 and turned out to be a surprise hit at the box office. The film was also dubbed into Hindi as Champion: The Winner in 2012. This film ran for 100 days in theaters.
Plot
Palanivel and Vetrivel are two inseparable brothers who eke out a living as a farmer and minivan driver respectively in a village on the foothills of Palani temple. They fight, sing, and booze together, and when Vetri falls in love with a city based RJ Anjali, who is on a visit to Palani, he finds Lakshmi to romance his brother. Meanwhile, Vetri goes to Chennai in search of a job and his ladylove. He gets a job as a driver in a courier company, which also employs people like Vimala Hassan, a crazy fan of Kamal Hassan. Enters Essaki, a dreaded don who controls Saidapet area of the city and soon locks horns with Vetri. The rest of the story moves along predictable lines before the steamy sentimental action-packed climax. Finally, Essaki stabs Lakshmi.
walked out of the film due to the film's long delay to start. instead Vedhika was selected. Kasthuri was selected to play an important role making her comeback to Tamil cinema.
Filming
Actor Arun Vijay and the cinematographers were arrested by the Thai army when the shoot was on for this film at Ko Man Islands near Pattaya City, It was only when the location manager and the producer explained the story to concerned officials that those arrested were released, The shooting came to a halt until the crew were released. The shooting of the film took place in Langavi Islands in Malaysia. Arun Vijay, Choreographer and Vedhika went as a team to the island for shooting. The shooting took place for a long time and by the time crew left it became dark and they missed the way and stranded in the mid sea for more than 2 hours but luckily they were saved. Set of the temple town Palani has been erected at Sriperambadhur for shooting of the film, Since the story of the film happens in Palani, set of the temple including market place, shops and streets have been erected in Sriperambadhur for 50 lakhs. A fight sequence featuring Arun Vijay clashing with the villains has been shot under the guidance of the stunt master Kanal Kannan. Scenes featuring Vedhika is also being shot here. Four cameras are being used for the shooting at this spot. Mumtaj was said to be appearing in an item number which proved false. During the shooting, the makers did a charity work to underprivileged rural areas. These donations have been used to provide adequate number of Ambulance facility to the villages of Ramanadhapuram, Pattukottai, Dindugal. Shooting for the climax has been on at Binny Mills and whilst acting out a stunt sequence involving jumping over the camera, Arun Vijay hurt his rib cage and arm. Luckily, the injuries weren't major and the actor went about shooting the scenes after rest for a couple of hours.
Soundtrack
Soundtrack is composed by Mani Sharma and lyrics by Vaali. The audio was launched by Suriya in 2009.
Release & reception
The satellite rights of the film were secured by Kalaignar. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The film was officially announced as a hit by the reports given by top ten movies in kalaignar TV and other websites.It ran successfully for more than 100 days.
Critical reception
Kollywood today wrote: "There’s nothing exceptional you will be witnessing with Malai Malai". Oneindia wrote: "Director Venkatesh uses all his usual techniques to entertain the viewers. The techniques he has applied may be old but guaranteed for a 2 hours 30 minutes entertainment. Arun Vijay has successfully broken all the odds in the film Malai Malai and become a complete hero in this film through his good performance and heroine Vedhika also perform well in the sleek action masala. ". Sify wrote: "a typical mass masala movie with all essential ingredients". Nowrunning wrote: "Malai Malai an out-and-out Arun Vijay movie and Vedhika is apt for the role". Behindwoods wrote: "Scenes and narration are the same old run-of-the-mill types but for Prabhu’s and Prakash Raj’s friendship. Director had attempted to give something different but his efforts fall flat".
Legacy
The success of Malai Malai, prompted the producers of his long-delayed film Thunichal to use his newfound publicity to launch their own film. Arun Vijay, worried that the move could hamper his new-found image at the box office, lodged a complaint with the Nadigar Sangam, alleging that the producers of Thunichal were attempting to release the film without his voice. Soon after, he retracted his statements and refuted that the film would not damage his reputation. After Malai Malai, the crew of previous film re-united with Maanja Velu which is a remake of Telugu filmLakshyam. which also went on to become a hit at the box office.
